Ray Rice has dominated the headlines after a video leaked showing him assaulting his then-fiancée and now wife Janay Rice. He has since been cut by the Baltimore Ravens and suspended indefinitely from the NFL.

MTV News asked Chris Brown, who was sentenced to five years of probation for assaulting Rihanna, what advice he would give to Rice or anyone dealing with domestic violence.

“I think it’s all about the choices you make,” said Breezy. “With me, I deal with a lot of anger issues from my past— not knowing how to express myself verbally and at the same time not knowing how to cope with my emotions and deal with them and understand what they are.”

He’s been able to move past his problems by seeking help. “I think help is great,” he added. “I still talk to my therapist twice a week, and it helps me to…if I’m frustrated and I’m dealing with something, to vent and say what I’m going through so I can hear from an actual clinical person, ‘this is how you should react,’ or ‘it’s good to feel this way because feelings, emotions, and energy are supposed to come and go.’ It’s not supposed to stay there, you’re not supposed to keep it inside, because it’ll bottle up and you’ll become a monster.”

But he stopped short of passing judgement. “To Ray, or anybody else—because I’m not better than the next man—I can just say I’ve been down that road. I deal with situations and I’ve made my mistakes too, but it’s all about how you push forward and how you control yourself.”